Islam, Terrorism and the Role of Media Essay

Terrorism Islam, the Most Widely Misunderstood Religion and the role of Media Increasing terrorism across the globe can be contri notwithstandinged to legion(predicate) factors such as extremism, poverty and literacy rate sightly to name a some however, widely misunderstood theologys build been the focus of the blame, disregarding the stem earns. It has been over a decade since Islam is creation openly criticized for promoting terrorism. Islam is the tho religion that has been constantly associated with terrorism however, it does not promote terrorism, still actually condemns it.The however possible way to eliminate terrorism is if media and super powers such as linked States, China and Russia stop taking advantage of global frequent and start playing a positive role in this totally blame game. Individuals from the westbound contemplate that Islam promotes terrorism, suck their own level of view. They cartel that western value argon in conflict with the Moslem values, resulting in a clash of eastern and western cultures. According to the western view point, Muslims have an aversion to the west for its successful secular state and therefore, declare their hatred in the form of terrorism. There is no doubt that the values of western people are in conflict with the values of Islam.Muslims do not square upm to like the idea of secularism however, this is not the main cogitate for terrorist activities carried unwrap by Muslims. First, we indigence to actualise how terrorism arises. What is the main cause of terrorism? As Woodberry J. Dudley (2002) points out, Terrorism is a response to built-up grievances, real or imagined. Therefore, single cannot drive out terrorism without dealing with the grievances that have light-emitting diode to it. The most obvious of these issues is the Israel-Palestine conflict.Another major point raised by Western media is the school of thought of jihad in Islam. They claim that the doctrine of Jihad in Is lam plays an important role in promoting terrorism. Raphael Israeli argues in The Islamic teaching of Jihad Advocates Violence and Jennifer Hurley quotes him, Jihad has principally one heart and soul a military action designed to expand the outer borders of the farming of Islam or to protect the borders of Dar al-Islam from encroaching un trustrs (Hurley, 2000). Although it would easily appear that Jihad advocates violence, and thereof results in terrorist activities from Muslims, this is untrue.One cannot come to the conclusion that Jihadpromotes terrorism just by looking at the actions of Muslims, but quite need to understand the concept of Jihad. First of all, Jihad does not mean Holy War. It government agency to strive for something. As Mohammed Abdul Malek points out in the following In verity jihad is a duty of Muslims to commit themselves to a struggle on all fronts moral, spiritual and political to create a just and properly society. It is not a holy state of war against the Muslims during the time of the Crusades (a war instigated by the Church for religious gain).There are other words in Arabic which are more appropriate to use in a war situation, if war was the principal purpose of Jihad. Examples of such words are harb (war) and maaraka (battle).The Holy Quran could have used these instead of Jihad, if the intention was the annunciation of war. (Hurley 2000). Hence, it is clear that it is the misinterpretation of Jihad that has led Muslims and Non-Muslims to believe that Jihad advocates terrorism. It is in markigible if the doctrine of Jihad is misinterpreted by Non-Muslims, because they may not have lavish knowledge or so the laws of Islam or they may not have an soul of the teachings of the Holy Quran, the holiest book for Muslims.Yet how come various Muslims misinterpret the doctrine of Jihad? As Pervez Amir Ali Hoodbhoy, a Pakistani nuclear physicist, notes that, Maulana Abdus Sattar Edhi, Pakistans preeminent social worker, and the Talibans Mohammad Omar are both followers of Islam, but the former is overdue for a Nobel Peace Prize duration the last mentioned is an ignorant, psychotic fiend. (Schafer, 2002). These two men represent the two ways of intellectual Islam. One understanding is what Islam says. The other is the way it can be explained so that it equates in with ones own beliefs.The difference between the two is very obvious. Many Muslims tend to believe or explain things that fit in their beliefs. Unfortunately, this approach of understanding Islam has led to the misinterpretation of not totally jihad, but the whole of Islam. On the other hand, right after the terrorist acts of 9/11, journalists were seen as organism biased. Apparently, they were just doing their jobs but the after effects of the mishap put them into a severe patriotic state. There is nothing disparage with being patriotic nigh your country and hating your enemies but while doing a job that halts you stand in front of t he millions, patriotism came out as a controversial factor.(Hess, Kalb, Brookings & Shorenstein, 2003). As John McWethy, the chief national aegiscorrespondent for ABC News, responded When you are on television, you are a image for your network. I would no more wave an American ag while I am trying to report in a nonbiased way close to conict overseas than I would a Canadian ag or a British ag if I were a citizen of those countries. Im a reporter. (Hess, Kalb, Brookings & Shoranstein, 2003).At the same time, a majority of macrocosm residing in the Middle due east and South Asia, condemn the western media for being biased against Islam. One has to agree to a certain level that American Republicans, who are known to be conservative, have control over few news channels and those channels only show one situation of the story.In these critical times, the medias role should be to help closure the conflicts and show its audience the real face of terrorism. As Red Batario writes, From where I stand, as a citizen and media consumer, the stories that come my way are bereft of one important thing context and empowering information. They do not allow me to make sense of what is happening around me. The stories tell me of problems, they do not tell me that something can be done.They tell me that everything is wrong but nothing about whats working. Other stories cite Muslim terrorists but I have yet to come across a news item identifying para-military groups who assassinate their victims as Christian terrorists. (Batario, 2012). Western media is as well as responsible for not appreciating the efforts make by Muslim community on daily basis. Those journalists and new anchors have totally ignored the anti-terrorism, anti 9/11 and anti understructure attitude shown by Muslim patriots of the west. How come they do not see how it is like to grow a beard or wear hijab and shame the terrorists the enemies of the west at the same time.As Kamran Pasha, an author and a Holly wood filmmaker writes, Thomas Friedman wrote an outrageous column in The New York quantify claiming that no major Muslim cleric or religious body has ever issued a fatwa condemning Osama Bin dilute. (Pasha, 2009). Fatwa means a profound pronouncement in Islam usually given by an Islamic assimilator to clarify a head word. (Wikipedia, 2013).The surprising part is that a fatwa had already been issued by some Spanish Scholars in March 2005 yet Friedman chose to lie and false his fellow Americans and an unknown number of souls all over the world. Pasha still elaborates, There is a real political agenda in spite of appearance the media itself to glide by Islam as the enemy, and to portray mainstream Muslims as a fifth column inside America. The idea thatyour Muslim neighbors are silently supporting Bin Laden sells newspapers.It captures the attention of viewers of the nightly news. And it furthers the ambitions of politicians who need a rallying point to get votes. (Pasha, 2009 ). It is true that most of the actions taken by the Muslims in the west go unnoticed. For example, Pakistan, a country located in South East Asia, has been fighting the war on terror for last 12 days and has lost the lives of thousands of soldiers and civilians but still media keeps portraying Pakistan as a terrorist country. My question is, what would make their voices get heard? What exactly do they have to do in order to justify that they equally condemn terrorism? I guess no one better than media can answer these questions.Media decidedly needs to play a more positive role instead of neglecting the real facts. The great minds in the media who create controversial stories should emphasize on coming up with creative ideas to illuminate the audience with truth. With the help of them and general public, many atrocities can be avoided by conveying the right essence to the public. As Cerge Remonde said and Batario writes, We (the broadcast media) generate a lot of oestrus but very little light. (Batario, 2012). In conclusion, Islam has widely been misinterpreted both in the western world and the Islamic world.To solve this problem, one cannot resort to war as a resolution or change the values of Islam, but instead there needs to be a change in western diplomacy to take into account the grievances held by many Muslims. The United States needs to change its foreign policies, especially concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict, which would help many Muslims believe that the United States really wants to solve the issue at hand. Not only does the responsibility lie in the hands of United States, but also the Muslim Umma (society), who as a whole need to step up and realize that what they believe in is wrong and they need to find out the truth. The authorities of Islam need to step up and take a stand.They need to educate the Muslim society and create more awareness about the true meaning of Jihad and other similar complicated concepts. If not, for sure this is only the beginning of terrorism in Islam. Not to mention, if media cooperates and stops being biased and one sided, issues bigger than terrorism could be overcome without squander billions of dollars and many innocent civilian lives.ReferencesBatario, Red. (2012, May 21). Medias Role in Conflict and Terrorism. Center for Community Journalism and Development. Retrieved from http//ccjdphils.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/medias-role-in-conflict-and-terrorism/ Fatwa. (2013, March 8). Wikipedia, . Retrieved family line 26, 2013 from http//simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fatwa&oldid=4211834. Hess, S., Kalb, M. L., Brookings, I., & Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, P. (2003). The Media and the War on Terrorism. Washington, D.C. Brookings knowledgeability Press. Hurley, J. A., & Hurley, J. (2000). Islam opposing viewpoints. Greenhaven Press. Israeli, Raphael. (2001).The Islamic Doctrine of Jihad Advocated Violence. Jennifer A. Hurley (Eds.). Islam Opposing Viewpoints. (20-115) San Dieg o Greenhaven Press. Malek, Mohammed A. The Islamic Doctrine of Jihad Does Not Advocate Violence. Jennifer A. Hurley (Eds.). Islam Opposing Viewpoints. (24-121). San Diego Greenhaven Press. Pasha, Kamran. (2009, April 20).The Big Lie about Muslim Silence on Terrorism. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http//www.huffingtonpost.com/kamran-pasha/the-big-lie-about-muslim_b_188991.html Schafer, D. (2002). Islam and Terrorism. Humanist, 62(3), 16. Woodberry, J. (2002). Terrorism, Islam and Mission Reflections of a Guest in Muslims Lands. International Bulletin of Missionary Research. (1), 2.